M O R G A N

I woke up, and my room was a sauna. I was covered in sweat, and my mouth was drier than the Sahara desert. Someone had whacked the heater on full and buried me in a mountain d blankets.

There was an empty chair next to my bed, and I wondered if someone had stayed up during the night to watch me.

I didn't remember how I got home last night, but I remembered everything else. Eli, Poppy, the wisps, and that handsome stranger.

I pressed my hand over my heart and felt a terrible gnawing ache. Where did my handsome stranger go? The last memory I had was falling asleep in his arms.

I gazed back at the empty chair. Had he sat in that chair and watched over me? Had he wanted to make sure that I was okay?

I pushed back the blankets and noticed someone had bandaged my foot. It was him. I knew it was him.

I got up and turned the heater off, then threw open a window. Outside, the village was still covered in a thick blanket of snow.

I limped to the bathroom and bent my head over the sink, then drank thirstily from the tap.

I heard footsteps behind me, and for a second, I thought it might be him. I lifted my head and saw Poppy standing at the bathroom door.

Her eyes narrowed on me, and she asked, "What time did you sneak in?"

"I don't remember," I replied, wiping my mouth.

"India said that you ditched her in the woods. Did you do it to meet up with Eli?" Poppy asked.

I pointed at my ankle and snapped, "I fell over and sprained my ankle trying to keep up with India, who was trying to keep up with you! Last night, I almost died of bloody hypothermia because of your stupid meltdown over that inbred pencil-dick moron, Eli! You really need to start growing up, Poppy!"

Poppy stared at me, slightly astonished and then turned on her heel and stalked back into her bedroom, loudly slamming the door behind her.

I bit down on my tongue. I shouldn't have said that. I should have been more patient. But then I remembered what had happened last night with Eli. I remembered him standing over me with his hand, reaching for his belt buckle.

I felt sick thinking about it. A sudden wave of protectiveness rose up within me, and I hobbled over to Poppy's door and yelled, "Don't you dare go near Eli again. Do you hear me? There is something wrong with that boy!"

"Go to hell!" Poppy shouted back at me from somewhere inside the room.

I returned to my bedroom and picked up my phone. There were thirty-two missed call notifications from Rupert and India. But there was also a message from an unknown number.

I opened the message, and it read.

' Text me when you are awake.'

I hit the reply button and typed, 'Who is this?'.

Seconds later, I received a reply that read, 'Your worst enemy'.

Oh god. It was him. I closed the bedroom door and sat down on my bed. What was I going to say to him? I wanted to thank him, but he seemed pretty committed to this whole 'worst enemy' thing. So, I replied instead with,' Were you in my bedroom last night?'.

The three dots pulsed on my screen and stopped, then pulsed again. A smirk crossed over my face. I had him flummoxed.

Eventually, he replied back with three words, 'You were ill.'

I sent him a rolling eye emoji and said, 'So you bandaged my ankle, tucked me in bed, and watched over me? Are you the worst worst enemy ever?'.

I couldn't see him, but I could imagine his irritation as he read my message. He replied back with, 'Last night was a one-off.'.

I doubted that. The wisps had paired us together. There wasn't any going back now. But perhaps, he didn't know about wisps. He was a stranger, after all.

I stared down at my phone and chewed my lip. What should I ask him next?

'I'd like to know a bit more about my worst enemy. Maybe we could meet up?'

It was a bold question, but I needed answers. Something told me that this guy was a dragon, but he definitely wasn't a dragon from the village. I hope he had a sister. Then Eli could start bothering her to help diversify the village gene pool.

I waited and waited. But no reply.

Did I come on too strong? Maybe he didn't want me to ever see him again? But then why did he message me?

I flopped back against my pillows and wondered who the hell this mystery man was.

After ten minutes and no reply, I slipped my phone into my bra and headed downstairs to get some breakfast.

The pub was a total mess from the night before. Pillars of dirty plates and half-eaten trays of food lay piled up around the kitchen.

I tiptoed around the mess and grabbed myself a slice of toast and a cup of tea. I checked my phone, just in case I'd missed a notification, and was disappointed to find that there was still no reply.

I headed into the bar and found Charlie sitting by the fire, nursing a tall glass of his favourite hangover drink, tomato juice, and hot sauce mixed with a raw egg. He had his sunglasses on and winced painfully when I said good morning.

"Sorry," I whispered, pulling a chair out next to him.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and uttered, "My head is like a bucket."

"How was last night?" I asked.

"I honestly don't remember," Charlie replied. "Did you have fun chasing Poppy around the woods?"

I nodded at my bandaged ankle and said, "I fell over in the mud and had to hobble back. I'm guessing India and Rupert managed to persuade Poppy to come back home."

"They did, although she's decided that she is going to steal Eli from you," Charlie said.

"I want nothing to do with that arsehole," I snapped. "I had no idea he was going to pull that little stunt in front of the whole village."

"Don't sweat it. His parents will have a few strong words with him, and he'll forget all about you," Charlie replied.

"I hope so," I replied.

Poppy suddenly walked into the room with a plate of heated leftovers. Her eyes meet mine, and she quickly looks away as if she hadn't seen me.

Charlie noticed this and nodded at my ankle. "Poppy, I hope you have apologised to Morgan for your ridiculous behaviour."

Poppy slammed her plate of food down on the bar and echoed indignantly, "My ridiculous behaviour?!"

"Yes, you made quite the spectacle of yourself last night, dressed up like a hooker's handbag, making goo-goo eyes at a man who has no interest in you," Charlie snapped.

Poppy gasped loudly and plucked a chicken wing from her plate, then hurled it at her uncle.

"How dare you," she shrieks as the chicken wing sailed across the bar.

Charlie caught the chicken wing and pointed it at her, waggling it as he yelled, "For your nonsensical conduct, you can cover Morgan's waitressing duties while she recovers from her fall. Any tips you get for covering Morgan's tables need to go to Morgan. Is that clear!"

"I would rather die! I'd rather run mad in the woods with the wild beasts," she howled.

"I won't have you behaving in this manner. Degrading yourself for a man you barely know. Your mother had similar ideas, and look what happened to her," Charlie yelled.

Poppy's mouth pressed into a thin white furious line at the mention of her mother. She muttered a few swear words under her breathe then grabbed her plate of food and stormed back upstairs.

I awkwardly took a bite out of my cold toast and stared into the fire. I hated being caught in the middle of a Charlie and Poppy argument. Both Charlie and Poppy had a tendency to be a little over-theatrical and cruel when arguing with one another. 

I didn't know much about Poppy's parentage other than her mother died when she was very young. Charlie had only been a young man when his sister had died, and he had been left to raise the two baby girls by himself. He rarely spoke of his sister, but when he did, it was always in comparison with Poppy's bad behaviour.

"We should let her cool down," I suggested.

Charlie said nothing and continued to sip his hangover cure.

Suddenly, the bar phone started to ring. Charlie groaned in pain at the sound, so I got up and quickly answered the phone.

"Good morning, this is the Fox and Dragon pub. How can I help?" I said cheerfully.

There was a silent pause and the muffled sound of a sob coming down the end of the receiver.

"Morgan? Is that you?" A woman's voice asked.

"This is Morgan speaking," I said anxiously.

"It's Dinah. Dinah Corvell. Eli didn't come home last night, and I was wondering if you knew where he was?"